Literary Device & Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize Winning Album, Damn.
In the past three decades slam poets and rappers have forced literary critics to accept that rapping, the act of reciting lyrics to percussion, beat box, or finger-snaps, possesses a literary quality, especially when compared to poetry. We only need to review the list of books published on the subject:
- Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop by literary scholar Adam Bradley
- Hip Hop Poetry and The Classics: For the Classroom by Alan Lawrence Sitomer and Michael Cirelli
- The Anthology of Rap by Adam Bradley and Andrew DuBois
And of course,
- The Break Beat Poets by Kevin Coval, Quraysh Ali Lansana, and Nate Marshall
Rappers incorporate devices like Alliteration: the audible repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or within words. Like this snippet of the classic verse by the late MC, Kid Hood, on the “Scenario Remix:”
I baseball bat a bastard
I’m bad news
I’m crazy and clever
Cut throats of crews
Compare that to the following stanza from Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for death:”
We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
Dickinson utilizes alliteration masterfully, weaving s sounds with “passed” and “recess,” as well as the r sound with “children, strove, recess, ring, and grain.” Meanwhile Hood utilizes slant rhyme, “bastard and clever,” and the AB / AB rhyme scheme, “bastard / news / clever / crews.” Hood also has the benefit of percussion, and the call and response of A Tribe Called Quest and Leaders of the New School. Poet and critic Edward Hirsh writes, “Alliteration is part of the sound stratum of poetry…Alliteration can reinforce pre-existing meanings and establish effective new ones.” The context of both verses actually resonate; the violent braggadocio of Kid Hood postured as the lyrical death of his Hip Hop adversaries, and Dickinson’s speaker’s literal death and journey with the grim reaper. Death is personified as a gentleman caller or suitor that comes for Dickinson’s speaker and Kid Hood presents himself as death coming for other MCs. This is tragically ironic because Kid Hood was murdered three days after recording his verse for “Scenario (Remix).”
Poetic literary devices cut across art forms, and faiths. For example, anaphora, “a rhetorical device in which several successive lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences begin with the same word or phrase,” can be found in poetry books and in holy books. Let us observe this excerpt from section five of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself:”
And I know that the hand of God is the promise of my own,
And I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own,
And that all the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers,
And that a kelson of the creation is love,
And limitless are leaves stiff or drooping in the fields,
And brown ants in the little wells beneath them,
And mossy scabs of the worm fence, heap’d stones, elder, mullein and poke-weed.
Although “Song of Myself” is a largely democratic poem it is also an intense meditation or self- reflection on the individual’s ability to love. The form created by the use of Anaphora adds depth and meaning by creating a chain of affirmations. Again, from Edward Hirsh:
The key to Anaphora is that each line is a repetition with a difference. Robert Alter calls this ‘a productive tension between sameness and difference, reiteration and development.’ Something is reiterated, something else added or subtracted. Our attention keeps shifting from the phrasing that is repeated to the phrasing that is freshly introduced. What recurs is changed. Anaphora is a self conscious and repeated turn back to beginnings (Hirsch 13).
The Beatitudes in Mark chapter 5 verses 1 thru 12 are another example of Anaphora:
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. (NIV)
Pastor David von Schlichten of the Saint James Lutheran Evangelical Church argues, “what is stunning about the anaphora in the Beatitudes is that it does not obviously fit with what follows it. That is, Jesus pronounces blessing on people who traditionally are not associated with blessing. Thus, the anaphora, the repetition of the blessing promise, is shocking, even radical.”
Again, something added and something subtracted, and all crafted to provide new meaning and understanding.
Kendrick Lamar, who won a Grammy and recently a Pulitzer Prize for his album Damn, utilizes anaphora on his album’s most popular songs. The track “Fear.” finds Lamar obsessing over his insecurities, but also recalling his childhood and how he was raised to fear beatings for any perceived misstep. Lamar’s song resonates with many of us, his listeners, for their honest relation of an almost universal (on different levels) lived experience. The majority of lines in the first verse begin with “I beat yo ass.”
I beat yo ass, keep talkin’ back
I beat yo ass, who bought you that?
You stole it, I beat yo ass if you say that game is broken
I beat yo ass if you jump on my couch
I beat yo ass if you walk in this house
With tears in your eyes, runnin’ from Poo Poo and Prentice
Go back outside, I beat yo ass, lil nigga
That homework better be finished, I beat yo ass
Your teachers better not be bitchin’ ‘bout you in class
That pizza better not be wasted, you eat it all
That TV better not be loud if you got it on
Them Jordans better not get dirty when I just bought ‘em
Better not hear ‘bout you humpin’ on Keisha’s daughter
Better not hear you got caught up
I beat yo ass, you better not run to your father
I beat yo ass, you know my patience runnin’ thin
I got beaucoup payments to make
County building’s on my ass
Tryna take my food stamps away
I beat yo ass if you tell them social workers he live here
I beat yo ass if I beat yo ass twice and you still here
Seven years old, think you run this house by yourself?
Nigga, you gon’ fear me if you don’t fear no one else
The second verse finds Lamar using Anaphora to ponder his own death, and to repeat, “I’ll prolly (probably) die” in a myriad of ways. He also incorporates “Or maybe die” and “Or die” into the lyrics.
I’ll prolly die anonymous
I’ll prolly die with promises
I’ll prolly die walkin’ back home from the candy house
I’ll prolly die because these colors are standin’ out
I’ll prolly die because I ain’t know Demarcus was snitchin’
I’ll prolly die at these house parties, fuckin’ with bitches
I’ll prolly die from witnesses leavin’ me falsely accused
I’ll prolly die from thinkin’ that me and your hood was cool
Or maybe die from pressin’ the line, actin’ too extra
Or maybe die because these smokers
Are more than desperate
I’ll prolly die from one of these bats and blue badges
Body slammed on black and white paint, my bones snappin’
Or maybe die from panic or die from bein’ too lax
Or die from waitin’ on it, die ’cause I’m movin’ too fast
I’ll prolly die tryna buy weed at the apartments
I’ll prolly die tryna diffuse two homies arguin’
I’ll prolly die ’cause that’s what you do when you’re 17
All worries in a hurry, I wish I controlled things
In her 2017 The Ringer article “The Power of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Damn.’ From Back to Front,” Lindsay Zoladz writes, “That old teenage fear of dying “because these colors are standin’ out”…but what does it matter when all the success in the world cannot protect him from other people’s fear or from the fearful ones laying claim to his own story after he’s gone?”
Lamar continues the use of Anaphora on the song “Feel,” a prophetic criticism of the world he accomplishes by first looking within himself.
I feel like a chip on my shoulders
I feel like I’m losin’ my focus
I feel like I’m losin’ my patience
I feel like my thoughts in the basement
Feel like, I feel like you’re miseducated
Feel like I don’t wanna be bothered
I feel like you may be the problem
I feel like it ain’t no tomorrow, fuck the world
The world is endin’, I’m done pretendin’
And fuck you if you get offended
I feel like friends been overrated
I feel like the family been fakin’
I feel like the feelings are changin’
Feel like my thought of compromise is jaded
Feel like you wanna scrutinize how I made it
Feel like I ain’t feelin’ you all
Feel like removin’ myself, no feelings involved
I feel for you, I’ve been in the field for you
It’s real for you, right? Shit, I feel like-
Ain’t nobody prayin’ for me
Ain’t nobody prayin’ for me
Ain’t nobody prayin’ for me
Anaphora is an effective rhetorical device for political speeches as well, and Lamar is making a political statement with this album, and these songs in particular. In addition, Anaphora has the effect of engaging the audience in a particular emotional experience. Whether that experience is the blessings of the Beatitudes in the book of Matthew, or Whitman’s democratic aspirations, the repetition creates a unique poetic exchange. One where the reader / audience is waiting for what comes next, for what is contradicted, and for what is affirmed. “What recurs is changed. Anaphora is a self conscious and repeated turn back to beginnings” (Hirsch 13).
Lamar then doubles down and uses Anaphora and Epistrophe in what is arguably Damn’s best song, “DNA.” Epistrophe is “the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive lines” (Drury 96). Again, from Whitman’s “Song of Myself:”
Sun so generous it shall be you!
Vapors lighting and shading my face it shall be you!
You sweaty brooks and dews it shall be you!
Winds whose soft-tickling genitals rub against me it shall be you!
Broad muscular fieds, branches of live oak, loving lounger in my winding paths, it shall be you!
Hands I have taken, face I have kiss’d, mortal I have ever touched, it shall be you!
The combination of Anaphora and Epistrophe is called Symploce: a series of lines, clauses, or sentences beginning with the same word or phrase while simultaneously repeating a different word or phrase at the end of each line or clause. For example, Malcolm X uttered these now oft-quoted words at the Nation of Islam’s Temple #11 in Boston, Massachusetts during the 1950’s:
Much of what I say might sound bitter, but it’s the truth.
Much of what I say might sound like it’s stirring up trouble, but it’s the truth. Much of what I say might sound like its hate, but it’s the truth.
The anaphoric phrase “much of what I say might sound” demonstrates that Brother Malcolm recognizes the possible implications of what he’s saying, but the conciliatory epistrophe of “but it’s the truth” leaves no doubt in the mind of the listener that his words are confirming something within them, something they know to be true.
Lamar’s symploce on “DNA” functions not only as classic Hip Hop braggadocio but also as an intense self examination, and proclamation. In the same vane as Whitman’s “Song of Myself” Lamar is proclaiming self-love and recognizing his own power in a brutally honest display of lyricism. The album Damn. was produced so that a listener can listen to it from front to back and back to front. This complicates the narrative and adds texture to Lamar’s lyrics when combined with these poetic literary devices.
I got, I got, I got, I got
Loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA
Cocaine quarter piece, got war and peace inside my DNA
I got power, poison, pain and joy inside my DNA
I got hustle though, ambition, flow, inside my DNA
I was born like this, since one like this
Immaculate conception
I transform like this, perform like this
Was Yeshua’s new weapon
I don’t contemplate, I meditate, then off your fucking head
This that put-the-kids-to-bed
This that I got, I got, I got, I got
Realness, I just kill shit ’cause it’s in my DNA
I got millions, I got riches buildin’ in my DNA
I got dark, I got evil, that rot inside my DNA
I got off, I got troublesome, heart inside my DNA
I just win again, then win again like Wimbledon, I serve
Yeah, that’s him again, the sound that engine in is like a bird
You see fireworks and Corvette tire skrrt the boulevard
I know how you work, I know just who you are
See, you’s a, you’s a, you’s a
Bitch, your hormones prolly switch inside your DNA
Problem is, all that sucker shit inside your DNA
Daddy prolly snitched, heritage inside your DNA
Backbone don’t exist, born outside a jellyfish, I gauge
See, my pedigree most definitely don’t tolerate the front
Shit I’ve been through prolly offend you
This is Paula’s oldest son
I know murder, conviction…
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, soldier’s DNA
Born inside the beast
My expertise checked out in second grade
When I was 9, on cell, motel, we didn’t have nowhere to stay
At 29, I’ve done so well, hit cartwheel in my estate
And I’m gon’ shine like I’m supposed to
Antisocial, extrovert
And excellent mean the extra work
And absentness what the fuck you heard
And pessimists never struck my nerve
And that’s a riff, gonna plead this case
The reason my power’s here on earth
Salute the truth, when the prophet say
The interplay in this verse is poetic craftsmanship. Lamar varies the diction in his Anaphora to avoid dull repetition: “I got” switches to “I” and “I just / I know / I transform / I was.” New words are introduced: “This that” and “And” become a new pattern of Anaphora. The most telling change comes when the Epistrophe “inside my DNA” switches from first person to second person point of view to “inside your DNA.” Lamar takes the exploration and interrogation outward. In “DNA” Lamar is also emphasizing that he is cut from a different cloth than everyone else. Damn. is a work of art that exists on multiple human planes: literature, faith and God, street life, fate. In short, like literature, Damn is focused on the human condition.
Poetry is an oral tradition. The devices of repetition we’ve been discussing, Anaphora, Epistrophe, Symploce, and Alliteration were tools used not only to memorize the material, but to give the griot and the bard ways to create wonder. Get it Kendrick. Get. It.
Poet, storyteller, and essayist Roberto Carlos Garcia is a self-described “sancocho […] of provisions from the Harlem Renaissance, the Spanish Poets of 1929, the Black Arts Movement, the Nuyorican School, and the Modernists.” Garcia is rigorously interrogative of himself and the world around him, conveying “nakedness of emotion, intent, and experience,” and he writes extensively about the Afro-Latinx and Afro-diasporic experience. His second poetry collection, black / Maybe: An Afro Lyric, is available from Willow Books. Roberto’s first collection, Melancolía, is available from Červená Barva Press.
His poems and prose have appeared or are forthcoming in Bettering American Poetry, The Root, Those People, Rigorous, Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day, Gawker, Barrelhouse, The Acentos Review, Lunch Ticket, and many others.
He is founder of the cooperative press Get Fresh Books, LLC.
A native New Yorker, Roberto holds an MFA in Poetry and Poetry in Translation from Drew University, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
